Ace Combat Infinity: The Ribbon's Silence
by Just Another Indonesian Writer
Summary: "...I want you guys to know that the Reaper right here is not the one who can just... speak right off the bat." - Yeah, Bone-Arrow Four was never really a talkative one, and for a good reason, too.
1. 0: GRIM REAPER

"Alright, time to start the briefing," A voice echoed through the room as the lights flickered off, darkening the surroundings. "If you may, turn your personal PDAs, please."

All of the personnel that were present inside the square, dull room got themselves seated before their briefing manager, and after his order and gesture for the guys to open their gadgets, they did exactly so. Automatically, their Pocket-Digital-Assistance devices were synchronized with the administrator's laptop that was resting at the frontmost desk of the room. The LED projector was of course not out of the question. The black, glass screen blinked for a few times before the whole briefing system boots itself up.

At an unneeded cue, a picture of an arrow's head made itself at the center of the screen. The symbol's color was split into two, with black, or maybe even transparent color filling the left side of the insignia, while a digital-white filled the other one. The words '**ARROWS AIR DEFENSE AND SECURITY**' were printed with big, blocky, white letters just below the arrow insignia. Some of the room's audiences immediately broke into a few quiet chatters when they saw the symbol, but they were immediately silenced by the man standing in the middle of the room's throat clearance.

"We've got a new guy here today, but I'll have to cut the introductions short," He announced with a plain and straight tone, not monotone, but his tone of speech held lesser emotion than any normal human being, although, not at a great margin of difference. "My name's Goodfellow, and I'm your rep for the Arrows." A spark of life flickered once before a picture of an adult man appeared on screen. Underneath the close-up picture, also listed a small biography, but nothing too personal. The only thing that the guys knew about him then?

It was his name, _Commander Goodfellow_, and that's pretty much it.

"As you all know, Arrows is a mercenary force specializing in aerial warfare," Goodfellow spoke as he pointed towards the screen when yet another Arrows insignia popped up. This one particular insignia was colored in a rather unimpressive yellow blotch, with the right side of the arrowhead symbol having the darker fair of color shade. "Some people like to call us... '_Pirates_'," The rep raised one of his eyebrows at that. "I prefer they call us '_Privateers_', at least. We _are _being employed by the UN Security Council, after all."

The Arrows' Commander dismissed the things to the sidelines of the screen, and the digital world map zoomed itself in for the rest of the room to see.

Goodfellow cleared his throat again to get the dissipating and dividing attention to converge back to him, or at least, the briefing screen. "Anyway, the UNSC's Military Staff Committee just sent Arrows a requset for deployment," Explained the adult, and the world map directed itself to hover above Japan's airspace. "It was originally going to be an escort mission for the UNF Pacific Fleet stationed in Tokyo Bay... but that has changed," A smaller-scale map suddenly consumed a quarter-half of the screen to give a satellite-view of Tokyo with several red and yellow dots blinking on. "We now have multiple unknown UAVs flying towards area J4E, Japan's former capital of Tokyo. In other words..." He trailed, motioning his fingers to press a button on the laptop, the satellite-view map zoomed in to take all of the screen, and it turned itself into a birds-eye-view. "Right here." Finished the Commander.

Several pilots began to take note on the situation at their hands, and the possible threats marked on the panoramic radar.

"The UAVs are likely armed. We need them downed before they reach city limits," Goodfellow voiced his orders firmly to the other mercenary personnel. At a sudden, a new picture, unfamiliar to the taste of the other pilots and crews alike. It was a picture of a nearly disfigured, grinning skeleton wearing a tattered, long black cloth with a hood attached to its head. The skeleton was brandishing a black, metal scythe on its left hand. "This'll be the first sortie for the rookie here, TAC Name: '_Reaper_'. Here's your emblem."

At the mention of the name, a few of the many attendants laughed a little, reasons vary, some because of the cartoonized Grim Reaper insignia, and the other because of the silly, and childish TAC Name.

Out of all the fun and such spreading throughout the cramped briefing room, a figure that had been standing still at the corner of the dark room fidgeted.

"Will you step up, newbie?" Goodfellow motioned his free hand for the figure to uncloak himself and to reveal himself to the rest of the room.

As soon as the request was heard by everyone, and just after a few moments of silence, a sound of a military boot making contact against the cold and hard metal floor was produced, and it rang through the room. Heads turned to the right hand side of the room, and all of their eyes would instantly capture the image of a man, marching slowly towards the center of the room. They were expecting a rookie to came to their eyes, but they were certainly not expecting...

...A young man, probably in his early-to-mid-twenties. Everyone immediately noticed his rather short and deformed figure. Not too short, but still much below average of a fully-grown man. He stood at an unimpressive one-hundred-and-seventy-two centimeters. Slender eyes, tan skin, short, black hair, a pair of dark brown eyes, a pretty typical body built, not muscular, not too skinny, not too fat, just... normal. Ask everyone there, and they would just answer you like he's your typical Asian-descent, and if one bumped into him on the streets, they would just forget him in like... thirty seconds.

The young man was wearing a standard-issued flight uniform for a carrier's personnel.

"And here you have 'im," Goodfellow spoke with a slightly amused tone. "Jonathan Wong, twenty-three years old, former People's Liberation Army of China's Air Force airman, three-hundred-sixty-two hours of flight time, half-Singaporean-half-Chinese... say hi, will ya, rookie?"

The newcomer from China merely gave the audience a rather forced smile to the group of crews, and he bent his head downwards slightly, making a small, respectful bow. One could immediately tell that he's a shy, soft-spoken type of soldier. Not really an outgoing guy. Whispers broke out throughout the room, and the volume turned louder and louder on each and every second passed, naturally, with their eyes still fixated upon the Asian newbie. They also took a note that the new pilot was carrying a small pad, usually meant for writing or typing on his left hand.

"...Right, I want you guys to know that Reaper right here is not the one who can just... _speak_ right off the bat, so I expect all of you to go easy on 'im," The Arrows' rep informed cryptically. "Alright, back to topic, so, Omega from Bone-Arrow flight will be supporting you on this mission, follow his instructions. I'll be expecting results, you hear?" He questioned with a slight stress on his words to make it sound more like a demand. "Okay, all of you are dismissed."

The room stood up and gave a light salute. The screen flickered off, and the lights finally turned back on. The enclosed space was immediately filled with quiet chatters between the crews. Every single eye turned to the newcomer once Goodfellow vacated the room. He was still there, fidgeting ever so slightly, but there he stood, still and unmoving. A nervous look was visibly coloring his tan face, and the strained smile was still crossing his face.

And at that moment, _somehow_... they knew that they're not facing your usual rookie.

He was the newbie. He was Bone-Arrow Four. He was the Reaper.

* * *

**Ace Combat Infinity: The Ribbon's Silence**

**An Ace Combat work of Fiction**

**Prologue: Grim Reaper**

* * *

**Author's notes:**

Hello there, everyone. I am an unfamiliar author, and I'm presenting my very first work on Ace Combat!

If you're wondering, yes! This is indeed a work of fiction based on the events of Ace Combat Infinity. No one ever really noticed the game, and only one question popped up inside my mind: "why?". Yes. Why? I mean, the game is awesome! All of the references to the older games, the classic gameplay, the OSTs and their remixed versions, and not to mention that it's also F2P! BUT, I just want to give you all an FYI, I DON'T actually play the game myself, because I don't own a PS3, sadly... and to make it even worse, the game is PS3 exclusive, that news left me with a sad sniffle :(

Even though I can't really play the game, that hype on the game fueled my passion on the series to write this sorry excuse of a literature work. Oh, and just another FYI, I've been a fan of the game since Electrosphere, and I'm just... ADDICTED to the series.

Yes, I've had my own reasons on why I kept this prologue chapter short and a bit cryptic for a few readers, but I think... I think, I've made several points clear about him, and yes... if you STILL haven't noticed it, we have ourselves an Asian Reaper! Now scream bloody murder!

Nah, JK. So, I think I've overstayed this note, so I'm just going to excuse from this thing. Sorry for the grammar mistakes and the minimal choice of words, too. Not being a natural Englishman will have its own negative perks. Finally, thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed this one bit of chapter.

Traesto :)


	2. 1: LOST BUTTERFLY

Jonathan Wong, TAC Name: '_Reaper_', or also known as Bone-Arrow Four, exited the room quietly. he had waited for the other crews of the CVN-30; _UNNS-Kestrel_, a United Nations issued state-of-the-art nuclear-powered super-aircraft-carrier meant to carry over one-hundred-and-ten fixed wings and helicopters. Although the _UNNS-Kestrel_ was a UNICS issued naval carrier, the true purpose of the carrier was to house UN issued fighter squadrons, both official, and/or recruited mercenaries, and to act as a fast travel sea-transportation. The CVN-30 carrier was also acting as the main flagship of the Arrows Air Defense and Security Corp.

Wong never liked the crowd, he shrunk himself into the corner, adverting his head away from the curious stares directed at him from the other personnel of the ship. Whenever the personnel of the Kestrel made direct eye contact with the newest addition to the Bone-Arrow squadron, he just gave them an acknowledging smile, as if to wave or shoo them off from him. Eventually, the crews diverted their attention elsewhere, seeing how the quiet pilot wasn't really worth their time.

He thought that the coast was clear, so the rookie stepped outside of the briefing room to the long and large, painted in a dull, white color. He sighed silently and breathlessly to himself, out of relieve from the crowd and attention. As an introverted airman, Wong was never really good with big crowds, hence his rather short career with his own country's air force. The records said that he was honorably discharged, but of course, it was also because of the protests of his teammates because of his... silence.

He started to walk down to the direction that could lead him to the hangar area. That was... until a hand scooped around his neck and pulled him to the side, almost throwing the young newbie off balance. Widening his brown eyes in pure surprise in realization, he was being tugged by a strong and firm grip on his shoulder. The loss of his balance almost threw his rectangle-framed glasses and his typing pad aside as well. Out of reflex, his amber eyes immediately darted to his right, the supposed area that the pulling force had came from.

The Reaper's eyes were met with a rather young man, probably just a year or two older than himself. Unlike Wong, this particular man was much more taller than him. He was standing at a very intimidating one-hundred-and-ninety-one centimeters, and his towering body hailed upon the Reaper's short frame. It even made the younger pilot to drop a bead of cold sweat when he saw his jacked-up body built. Wong gulped nervously at the new figure that was locking him in place.

This new figure however, only shot the fidgeting pilot a friendly, toothy grin, showing out his active and energetic youthfulness.

"Hey, there!" Exclaimed the taller man with a very distinct British accent. "You must be the new guy right? The Reaper?"

Wong nodded once, his body moving ever so slightly in a vain attempt to break free from his tight, yet friendly arm, slung over his own shoulder.

"Ohh, you're much shorter than I thought!" He pointed out whilst chuckling in amusement. "Oh, right! Where are my manners? Abib Williams; TAC-Name: Omega or Bone-Arrow Two, I'm supposed to be your flight partner for your next mission, which is also your first flight with the Arrows, right? Well, I hope we get along well, buddy!"

The young pilot offered a nervous, but sincere smile to him.

"Eh, don't be shy, bud! You can talk whatever you want with me, I'm not like one of those guys who like to mess with the new guy, you'll be _jussttt_ fine with me," He grinned yet again. "So, your name is Wong, am I correct?"

Wong blinked, part of him was confused, Abib there was just asking and spouting way too many question, maybe one too many for his own little brain to handle, yet part of him was... happy? He was feeling happy that someone at least _noticed_ his fleeting, nearly non-existing presence. And so, our protagonist only did the only thing he could do for the time being. He pulled his typing pad to both his and Omega's eye view, and so, he typed, after three seconds or just a second a bit later, he turned the pad for his new partner to see.

'_Sorry, I'm a mute ^^,_' Was the contents written on the holo-screen of the pad.

* * *

**Ace Combat Infinity: The Ribbon's Silence**

* * *

Abib's reaction was instantaneous. Widened eyes, mouth gaping wide, head tilted to the side, complete with a dumbfounded and disbelieving expression coloring his face.

"Y-you're... y-you c-c-can't sp-speak...?" Omega stuttered whilst pointing an index finger at the Chinese airman, even his finger was twitching heavily.

Reaper typed something into his pad before showing it again to his newfound acquaintance. '_Well... yes. I can't speak since birth, so..._' He quickly deleted the words visible on the surface on his pad, and proceed to let his fingers to type in new words for the British-Pakistani crew. '_Don't worry, I can at least use this to... well... talk :)_'

"Wow..." Omega mouthed breathlessly, obviously amazed, astonished, and amused by his new wingmate. "Dude... _THAT. IS. **AWESOME!**_" He shouted that the top of his lungs, this gained them some attention from some of the other passing crews.

Wong motioned his mouth to create an '_Eh?_' like expression.

Abib immediately grabbed a hold of his shoulders. "Mate, you're a mute, yet you're serving as a pilot?! That's like the coolest thing ever!"

The Asian airman produced a very nervous, soundless laugh, and he did that out of fear.

After a few tens-of-seconds, the European-Arabic crewman managed to get his horses in check again. "Whoa..." He breathed that one final gasp, before letting his usual grin to cross his face again. "...Right... oh! Yeah, I forgot, first things first, welcome to the squadron, lad!" Omega offered his hand to the shorter late-adolescence.

Wong stared at the extended hand a bit strangely, it WAS a bit strange and awkward... well, at least for him. Unsure on what to do, and his brain forcing him to not hurt his acquaintance's feelings, he extended his own hand to receive the extended one. The two locked their hands in a firm grip and Omega shook his hands up and down, automatically bringing the Reaper's hand to go up and down with his hand as well. The Asian pilot felt a very light tug on the edges of his lips, his mouth was forming a small, shy smile.

Abib released his partner's hand after the shake. "So, lad! I spy you're going to the hangar, no?"

Wong nodded once.

"Sweet!" Omega pumped his free left hand into a fist, as he began to shift his weight to drag the rather unfortunate Reaper with him. "Come on, let's get to the hangar, then! I want to see what baby you'll be flying with today," Spoke the slightly older pilot with excitement.

The mute airman tried to break free from his grip, if he could talk, he would tell Omega that he was choking him.

But the key word was: _tried._

* * *

_Kestrel_, hangar deck. The world's biggest and most sophisticated carrier hangar. The long and wide sections of the deck could carry over a hundred aircraft, let it be fixed-wing or rotorcraft operated. Crews of the maintenance crews were just chatting and walking here and there, handling and tinkering with all of the aircraft docked into the humongous hangar. As per expected, multiple types could be seen sitting dry at the surface of the area.

The fighters were in an assortment of mixed aircraft, from antiques of the Korean war to the most advanced interceptors just by Sukhoi and Lockheed Martin. F-18 Hornets, F-15 Eagles, F-14A Tomcats, MiG-21bis Fishbeds, F-35 Lightning IIs, and even to the ground-base purposed fighters, like the PAK-FAs and the F-22A Raptors, not to mention the heavy attacker, the A-10 Thunderbolts at the far left hand corner of the hangar.

The hangar was just so full of aircraft types, that one would literally see over ten different manufactured aircraft just on one section of the large space.

Two new mercenary heads entered the area, one full with energy, the other... not so full.

Surely, Wong was amazed to the bone how the hangar could house these many aircraft.

"What a sight, huh?" Omega mused up.

Surely, Reaper wanted to scoff at that, a view like this was nothing compared to the view from the sky. Sure some good chunk of the Earth got decimated after the Ulysses Disaster at July 1999, but for Junior Ensign Jonathan Wong, the world was still a beautiful place. As an orphaned child, he was left for dead after the a fragment of the Ulysses hit the Xi An province of China. It was a work of a miracle on how he survived through the whole ordeal, being a mute, no less. But of course, that was also because of the help from the Type-0 Stonehenge Anti-Air Railgun networks, built a few kilometers just outside the capital of China, Beijing.

After the disaster, he was picked up by a volunteered labor force working for the United Nations' Search and Rescue squad. Ever since then, Wong had been in the care of an orphanage in the capital city. Seeing how he was old enough to work, he decided to take up piloting school, and he graduated as one of the top students, despite being a mute. He immediately entered military service at the age of nineteen, and he was assigned to the PLA's Air Force, and the only reason that the PLA-AF accepted his application was because of only his high test scores.

He was more or less, despised, by the personnel of the People's Liberation Army, being a mute and all, and even so by his somewhat shy-child like demeanor. Naturally, this personality of his was developed because of his PTSD. He may be still young enough to not understand the events of the Ulysses disaster, but that doesn't mean that he can't feel the pain and suffering both during and after the impact of the asteroid fragments.

Being left with no home after his discharge, he knew that his one and true place was the skies. The latter joined the Arrows Corp. shortly after his discharge from the PLA. After that, he-

"...Reaper? Mate?" Abib waved his hand above the Chinese mercenary a few times, trying to get his attention. "You okay there, buddy? You're spacing out," Spoke the tall pilot with a slight hint of concern.

The Asian pilot blinked twice. He had been indeed spacing out, true to his wingmate-slash-acquaintance's words.

Omega's grin merely return to his face. "You need to relax a bit, buddy. You're too tense," He patted Wong's back twice for reassurance. "Come on now, let's get down there."

Well, walk was just an understatement. Due to the overly long hangar deck, the two would have to take a golf cart just to navigate to their own squadron's area. As a mercenary unit inside an elite, and maybe even luxurious UN vessel, the Arrows were treated as rejects, and low lifers. Their planes were usually given only minimal to low maintenance after each mission, and the only thing that the hangar hands did to the planes were to refuel and rearm the aircraft. That, and their planes were even put at the furthest part of the ship, forcing the mercenaries to walk a long way, or to borrow a golf cart from the more friendlier crews.

_Kestrel_'s hangar bed was not only filled with Arrows' planes alone. There were the Ridgebacks, a UN official squadron, filled with the fleet's best of the best, the Alpha and Bravo squadrons from the Arrows, constantly bickering and bantering about their kills in the air, and the rest were just random assortment of fighter pilots from all across the world, ready to give their all to support the UN and their missions to keep the peace around the globe.

And then... finally, there's the Bone-Arrow squadron's hangar section.

There were three fighters on station. One was a Mikoyan-Gurevich manufactured MiG-21bis Fishbed, an antique from 1985, the fighter had undergone extensive modifications and repairs to be at its top notch condition seen that day. The jet engines, cockpit, flaps, have all been updated to the latest aviation technology. The Russian-crafted jet aircraft sported the Bone-Arrow squadron's insignia at the tail wing, while the word '**_VIPER_**' was carved crudely under the cockpit's hatch.

The next aircraft in line was a Lockheed Martin's F-16 Fighting Falcon F variant, the two-seated, single-engine aircraft. Although the E and F variants of the Falcon was outdated at when the newer F-16 Viper variant introduced itself at the end of 2015, most of the F-16F's engines and parts were replaced with the newest V variant. Like the Fishbed, the tail wing of the F-16F also sported the emblem of the Bone-Arrow squadron, and the number '**_2_**' was also planted as a sticker below the squadron's insignia.

Last but not least, there's the Eurofighter _Jagdflugzeug_ GmbH's EF-2000 Typhoon. The multinational-made aircraft was the newest out of all the aircraft that were present there, being only first introduced at 2003 by the European government, it was pretty shocking on how they managed introduce a new fighter that could cut into the wide list of fighting-aviation even after the Ulysses disaster, and only by the span of four years, no less. Like the rest of the Bone-Arrow squadron's aircraft, the Typhoon had the squadron's emblem at the tail wing. The words '**_OMEGA_**' and a smiley emoticon was embedded below the cockpit's hatch, obviously stating its owner.

And our two mercenaries had just exited their golf cart and made their way closer to the fighters.

"She's a pretty one, right?" Purred Abib slowly as he traced his hands through the soft hull of the aircraft. "Just got this baby here a few weeks back..."

"Pfft, yeah, after you bailed out for the seventeenth time!" Yelled a random mechanic, he sounded angered for some reason. "I swear to God, King Bailout, if you scrap this thing again, we won't procure you another aircraft!" He stomped away from the Bone-Arrow's hangar area.

Wong blinked, he turned his eyes to his wingmate to see that he's sticking his tongue out at the mechanic.

"Tch... that mutt..." Spat Omega lowly, his eyes glaring towards the general direction of the crew's path, he then noticed the strange look from his friend. "What?" He shrugged his shoulders. "At least I'm still alive. One would need to bail out to survive, right?"

The Reaper rolled his eyes in exasperation, he was baffled when he heard that the tall young adult beside him had bailed out _seventeen_ times. He wasn't sure if he was extremely lucky to avoid death for seventeen times, or just plain stupid for keep getting shot down... also seventeen times. The temptation to smack his own forehead was great, but the Chinese mercenary pilot was strong-willed enough to keep his emotions in check.

"So, who's your _black horse_, Reaper?" Omega chided, looking around to find the one last missing fighter from the hangar area.

"Alright, lads, just get her a bit to the left! That's it, that's it!" A gruff voice boomed out from the side, gaining the two's attention.

Their eyes fell upon a silver colored aircraft, and Omega's surprised and dumbfounded reaction was once again seen on his face. A McDonnell-Douglas-made F-4E Phantom II with a modified cockpit to support only a single pilot was being directed towards their particular direction by some maintenance crews. Like the Mig-21bis, the antique aircraft from the Second Indo-China conflict or the Vietnam war was extensively modified with the more advanced technology that were introduced to the world of aviation only a few years ago. The modified Phantom II held a pair of extra hard-points to support more missiles, and the wider engine nozzles could deliver a much better thrust and push for the aircraft. The flaps and airbreaks were obviously not from the original Phantom itself. They're seemed to recycled, refitted, and reinstalled from the newer Lockheed Martin planes. And finally, the silver colored Phantom also shared the Bone-Arrow squadron's emblem at the horizontal tail wings, while Wong's personal Grim Reaper emblem was printed at the vertical tail wing.

Out of the ordinary though, there was an extra emblem resting on both sides of the Phantom's main wings. The emblem was printed upon a circular layer. The inner layer contained a mobius ribbon, with its inside at outside part twisted out and bent over each other to make a square version of the infinity sign. One indistinguishable part of the ribbon was colored in blue, while the other twisted part was colored in black. Underneath the formation of the mobius ribbon, was a blue colored globe, and a white miniature and cartoonized rocked could be seen swooping through the whole layer in a diagonal curve, forming a small arc.

"...W-whoa, Reaper..." Omega spoke quietly in pure amazement. "Th-this... _THIS_ is your plane?!"

The Chinese newbie nodded shyly, somewhat a bit uneasy at the reaction of his new flightmate. He was a bit unnerved when it comes to his plane. He knew well that it was an antique, but seeing how it was the only plane he could afford to procure whilst joining the Arrows Corp., he wasn't the one to bargain and complain for a better plane, especially with all of the newer planes introduced in the late 2000s, already armed with the prototype Tactical Laser System, or the TLS. The ADFX-01 Morgan was one of those planes.

"Damn, man... that is so... cool!" Bone-Arrow Three immediately skipped over to the gray-silver colored Phantom. He carefully caressed the main hull of the aircraft as if it was his own son. "Whoa... even with all of the upgrades, I still got this nostalgic feeling..." Uttered the Pakistani-Brit with a cooing tone.

Amusing... amusing indeed.

"Wow... just... wow," Omega continued to take in the image upgraded antique aircraft. A few passing moments, and then finally he realized that everyone was giving him a strange look, almost alienating him, especially from the Reaper. "O-oh! Sorry, buddy! I didn't mean to lay my hands on your precious plane, ehehe," He laughed awkwardly. "S-sorry?"

Wong just keep staring at the pilot as if he was facing a ten-year-old.

"Come on, don't give me that look, mate!" Pleaded Omega with a sincere apologetic look on his face, maybe even close to begging. "I'll treat you lunch if that'll make you feel any better!" He jabbed a thumb to the exit door of the hangar for an apparent reason. "Speaking of lunch... we still have an hour or two 'till the operation starts, wanna go grab some chow first? As I've said before, lad, the grub's on me! Whaddya say?"

The Reaper laughed silently and soundlessly to himself, it was _NOT_ a good idea to grab something to eat if you're gonna do some maneuvers around the air soon. Your stomach would be turned upside down, and a sane pilot would _NOT_ want to dirty their cockpit with their own puke. Speaking of puke, that's the real taste of a military ration, especially naval rations. Literal puke. Preserved, pre-heated, pre-cooked, an immediate turn down from literally everyone that has a sense of cuisine around the globe. And... since when carrier personnel pay for their foods on board a military ship? Aren't those things free?

Well... he _WAS_ feeling hungry, though. Ever since his transfer to the _Kestrel_... which was yesterday... _morning_, he hadn't got himself anything to eat. He wasn't feeling hungry, and it was of course a false statement given from Omega, as seen it was still about seven o'clock in the morning at Greenwich Mean Time plus nine hours, or seven AM, Japan Standard Time. It was too early for a lunch. Heck, he usually had his breakfast at eight o'clock if there was no sortie order!

Wong bitterly took the fact in that his stomach was screaming for an edible substance. He could at least... grab... well, something... right?

...Right?

* * *

Like her hangar deck, _Kestrel_'s mess hall was just as lively like the hangar. Personnel from both the UN and the Arrows were swirling around here and there, getting their breakfast from the buffet-like place. Color Reaper impressed, but he didn't expect that. Usually, naval ships like an aircraft carrier would always serve their rations like your usual military base. Cooks scooping you your 'food' and expects you to finish it off, or _THEY_ will the one who finish you off. Just by that, Wong's impression of the carrier improved by a great margin.

Both Omega and himself had picked out a few things to satisfy their hunger. Abib had got himself a handful of preserved sandwich and a hard-tack from the back, while the Chinese airman just excused himself for a small hard-tack and a glass of oriental tea. The two UN employed mercenaries plopped themselves to a free seat, letting themselves to relax for the last few moments before the main operation at Tokyo Bay starts.

As expected from the Brit-Pakistani, he was just spouting out random things... again, and most of them were just about his experience with the Arrows. Although the former PLA-AF personnel didn't care less about the story, he also didn't have the right to just cut him off. In the end, the newbie just pretended to hear his acquaintance's running mouth.

The Reaper stared down at his own beverage. As your typical Asian man, he's a big fan of tea. _Oriental_ tea, and an even bigger fan of it's cuisine. His own drowny-looking face reflected on the surface of the warm, brown liquid. A green tea leaf was still present at the calm surface of his drink. Sure, the _Kestrel_ was no executive starliner, but she was at least... sophisticated enough to have good food on board. Well... good by _military_ standards, of course.

The Reaper gave a long, silent exhale, closing his eyes for a few moments, before opening it again. Omega was still chattering about mostly comical and nonsensical things, and the crews were still up and about. He let his amber eyes to trail around the room, trying to break free from his boredom. The mess hall was cramped, filled with soldiers and grunts like themselves. Most of the tables were filled with fighter pilots from different squadrons, it's almost like a person that's not a pilot or at least an Arrows operative wasn't welcome there.

Well... most... but not all.

At the tip of his right eye, Wong's vision captured a girl, probably the same age as he was, sitting alone before a table. Strange and curious... strange and curious, he was. Seeing how most of the guys that were present in the mess hall were suited in a UN naval pilot's uniform. But... she was strange indeed. As he had observed from before, it was a girl, and she was not wearing a pilot suit. She was wearing a United Nations' official naval uniform, which was a white dress shirt with the sleeves rolled down to cover her whole arm. A light blue neckerchief tied around her neck, and to point a thing that was out of place... she was wearing white gloves. And then a black skirt that was cut down before her knees, a pair of military footwear, and such.

But the thing that made her really stood out like a sore thumb was her hair. Unlike any normal human being's hair, her short, shoulder-length hair was colored in white. _White,_ with small strands of her bangs hovering above her forehead. What's even more strange from her bizarre hair color was her frontal bang strands were black, while the rest of her hair was white. The Reaper even blinked once to make sure that his eyes were not lying to him.

No, her strange hair color was true enough, and he was not thankfully colorblind.

He then averted his gaze to study her face. Her eyes... they were blue, crystal blue. And judging from her facial structure, she was probably an European. She was considerably much paler than anyone else. Her pale-white skin really did good to make her look like a ghost. A thought crossed inside Wong's mind, he questioned himself to ask for a chance if she got any genetic disease or if she's an albino. He shoved those thoughts away, not really wanting to get curious on her.

It seems that she also had this fleeting aura enveloping around her. The other crews and personnel just brushed past through her and continued walking as if they just bumped into thin air. But it's not like she reacted to them anyway. The girls just keep staring down at her black liquid-filled cup, which the Reaper hypothesized to be coffee. A look of apathy was present on her face, not dull, not shy, not emotionless, just apathetic.

But still, as a male, he had probably stared at her just a second too long, seeing how Omega had already stopped talking and was already watching the Asian pilot's observing eye planted upon the girl.

Abib's mischievous instincts told him to make a move on the rookie, he pulled himself closer to the younger Chinese mercenary, so that he could talk within whispering-range. "So... spying someone here, huh? You naughty stalker," Asked Bone-Arrow Three with a coy voice.

Reaper jumped a bit at the unwelcomed voice that entered his ears. His eyes immediately snapped back to his wingmate, that was giving him a naughty look. The Chinese pilot only rolled his eyes as he took a small sip of his tea. The pilot bit into his preserved biscuit with slight grunt of displeasure. Even though the ship was a floating food gallery, that doesn't mean that its rations would be world-class. Still one of the most crappiest food he'd ever taste.

"Come on, mate. You're too easy. I could read you like the book," Smirked Omega, following the gaze of the younger pilot to find the lone white-haired girl at the corner. "Aww... having a little crush on little Eve already?" The Brit laughed lightly, also landing a friendly punch at the Reaper's shoulder. "I'm proud of you, chap!"

Reaper raised an eyebrow at this and pulled out a confused look at this. That was an equivalent of asking someone a question, but not after shooting the tall mercenary a glare after the punch. It did left him with a pretty sore but obviously not intense pain.

"I'm talking about Princess Snow White over there, mate. Eve, or should I say Evelyn de Bourgogne," Began Omega, still maintaining the grin on his face. "A French transferee and a UN official. She's our comms officer, and would usually go on a ride with our Commander on the E-767. Any transmission would always go to her first, let it be from the UN high command or just us mercenary grunts. Not much of a talker, but hot damn! She's a cute one, isn't she?"

Wong just used right his hand to support his head, part of him growing tired of his wingmate's girl-talks.

"Mate, you don't have to be so dense! Literally everyone aboard this ship, young or old fell in love with her on the first sight!" Ogled Omega, his eyes continued to wonder through the albino-like Frenchwoman. "Just look at her! I mean, she's not hot nor sexy, but you _HAVE_ to agree that she looks cute, eh?"

If his vocal chord was healthy enough to let him groan, Reaper would've groaned as loudly as he could, but instead, he just rolled his eyes again.

"I'm just kidding, lad. No need to take it seriously," Abib patted the Chinese's back a few times. "Come on now. Looks like we've took our time," He stated, pointing at the clock planted on the wall. It was 8:42, just a few minutes left 'till the operation.

The Reaper did nothing but to nod to acknowledge his wingmate.

* * *

"_Attention all top-deck hands, we will now commence launch operations for the Pirates. All crews and personnel not helping with the launch procedure, please clear away from the tarmac. Repeating last announcement, attention..._"  
"Catapult crews are on deck, no need to repeat your order... _mutt_."  
"Hey, hey! Get the ordnance loaded into these crafts, stat! Ey, and get that F-14 out from the flight deck! That thing's blocking the runway!"  
"Flight crews, your diverted attentions are need. Okay, just like the drill, keep the..."  
"I need a status report from the AWACS craft already in the air. We're gonna be needing fresh intel on the ground here. Contact them through these..."

Junior Ensign Jonathan Wong was sitting quietly at his Phantom. The pilot's hand would twitch for every few seconds. The fighter was being directed towards the main deck of the large ship. His internal comms picked up every single radio transmission coming in from the allied channel. He tapped his own helmet with his palm to engage his visor's Helmet Mounted Display, abbreviated HMD. The smart system scanned his retinas for any degraded eyesight. As a glasses-wearing man, the Reaper's vision was limited to only a couple of meters, and the HMD did just the right thing to adjust the optics to fit his eyes' liking.

Although _Kestrel_ was already impressive with her very large size and shape, her true powers came on when one viewed her flight deck. Spanning on over two kilometers long and half-a-kilometer wide , which was long enough to support even ground-clearance aviators and also capable of launching more than four crafts at once, the CVN-30 _UNNS-Kestrel_ was known as the world's largest, longest, aircraft carrier in history, basically a floating airport, and she was also put into service into the United Nations' Naval Services' finest fleet, the _Invincible Fleet_.

The _Kestrel_ herself was a prototype Washington VI-class aircraft carrier. After the draft of the ambitious naval ship got rejected by the United States' Armed Forces due to the overly high production costs at the beginning of 2011, the Northrop-Grumman Newport ship yard scrapped the idea to build the ship. But then the UN Peacekeeping forces noticed the idea, and decided to take the draft up. Construction of the ship began seven years ago, and the _Kestrel_ was only put into active use a year ago as the flagship of the whole recently-founded United Nations' Naval Service. Of course, the _Kestrel_ was more like one-of-a-kind of her own class. Although about three more drafts were already procured and planned by the United States Government, the Royal Navy and the Deutsche Marines, the actual construction of the three ships would only begin in the year of 2022, 2029, and 2035 respectively for each country.

So up until 2019, only one ship was in service for the UNNS, and it was the _Kestrel_.

Reaper body jolted slightly when his Phantom was locked into place at the catapult. He could see several _Rainbow Boys_ from the flight deck giving him the signal to check his craft. Omega's Typhoon had already begun the final checks before taking off.

"Hey there, Pirate," A green suited crew threw his hands to the air and waved them several times to get his attention. "Going hunting today, huh? Well... better make sure that your plane's in top condition then. Check your flaps and airbreaks, if you may. We'll take note if anything's out from the ordinary."

Wong motioned his fingers to push and pull his flight sticks. He pivoted his glance over his shoulder to check if his wing's flaps were working properly. The airbreaks of his Phantom opened its frames up and the flaps tilted downwards, as per expected for its results. He repeated the process on his other wing. No problems detected. He gave a thumbs up through his canopy at the catapult crew. The flight hand tapped on his PDA, confirming his statement.

"Okay, we've read no problems on our ends as well. Next up, I-Field density," He directed, prompting a hand to led the mercenary to continue his check-up. "Engage and update your HMD to check it."

The Chinese airman merely pushed a red-colored button on his instruments to engage the European Union-made I-Field system. His HUD updated itself with the field's status,. A progress bar slowly moving to the 100% state. The I-Field system was a feature only recently introduced to the world of armed aviation two years ago by the geniuses from the GmbH. I-Field was a shield-like coating made of compressed transparent, charged ions. While a fighter would be destroyed by a single hit of a missile, with an I-Field installed, it would improve the survivability of an aircraft up to three or four missiles and/or a few HMG fire. The I-Field coatings were generated by a pre-installed generator inside the fighter's frames.

Wong's visor updated itself with the Phantom's current hull 'health', which was basically the damage level. A faint blue outline was glowing over his fighter, before dissipating into a transparent layer. He gave the crew another thumbs up.

"Alright... I-Field's all green. Commence check for weapons. Spin up you gun, Pirate."

With the safety lock still engaged, the Chinese airman held the trigger in. The weapon responded by whirring its chamber and loading the first bullet in without actually firing.

"Gun is spun up and ready to go. Check your sidewinders," Continued the crew.

The Reaper flicked the missile targeting reticule on. The HMD immediately switched over to missile targeting display.

"Heat seekers are online... finally, countermeasures. Check flares, kid."

Wong cast his glance to the side. He saw the button to eject the flares already glowing. He only gave a nod to the crew.

The flight hand only returned the nod to him. "Alright... everything is checked up and confirmed hot. You're clear. Control, you may proceed."

A yellow suited catapult crew jogged to the side of his plane. Wong turned the engine up a bit, and he could feel the jet blast deflector being raised behind his Phantom. His own aircraft's turbine spun up into dangerous velocity, producing a nearly deafening, high-frequency noise. The catapult railings began to let out the excess steam to reduce as much friction as possible. Omega's craft was already given a clearance for launch.

"Bone-Arrow three, you're cleared for launch," The control tower announced.

"Roger. Omega here, I'll be waiting for you in the sky, alright, mate?" The Reaper saw the Brit giving a two-fingered salute, in which he returned with a thumbs up to acknowledge his question yes. "Bone-Arrow three here, I'm proceeding with my launch."

The Typhoon's jet engines blasted out a trail of orange flames, which were immediately blocked by the carrier's jet blast deflector. Omega's craft dashed through the long runway of the Kestrel and took its flight to the skies. The catapult crews now set their attentions to the next plane in line for sortie. The yellow Rainbow Boy waved a few times at the tower, then finally gave a thumbs up with a nod to the Chinese mercenary. Wong returned the thumbs up back to him.

"We got you, Pirate," the catapult hand replied. "We're putting tension on. Be advised, brace for G-Force entry. Tension up, linear voltage increased from 40 to 320, highs, lows, ends, all good."

"Bone-Arrow four... Reaper, was it? Yeah, you're cleared for launch, kid," The tower announced the green light for him. "Your sky."

The catapult crew crouched and threw his hand to the runway's end.

The Reaper nodded once, and he now focused on the horizons that had been waiting for him.

Wong pushed the throttle forward, and the Phantom's upgraded jet engines boomed up, replacing the high frequency whirs with a loud explosion-like sound. The blast was canceled by the _Kestrel_'s blast barrier, and with that, the Phantom sped up through the tarmac of the largest naval ship in human history. As he gained the velocity, Newton's third law kicked in. The massive G-Force started to pin him back to the seat, while his pilot suit's G-Dampeners had absorbed in some of the force, Wong had to grit his teeth to avoid from blacking out at the large kinetic force.

After just about half-a-second, all of the vibrations produced because of the Phantom's wheels grinding against the runway, the Reaper felt like he was floating. At that, he pulled the flight stick backwards to gain altitude. He looked pass his shoulder to see that his Phantom was already in the air, leaving the _Kestrel_. He climbed upwards to about a thousand and five hundred feet to trigger his altitude cancellation, and slowed his air speed by a bit to shrug off the remaining G-Force disorientation.

"Good shot, good launch. Good engines, good end speed. Gear up confirmed," Stated the control tower of the _Kestrel_, monitoring the Phantom's condition after the launch. "Pirate, your altitude restrictions have been cancelled, you may proceed with your mission. Rendezvous with the rest of your team at Area J4E. We'll have a KC-10 on station if you need to refuel. They'll be standing by at J4E at this following grid: Bravo-four-niner. An E-767 AWACS craft is also ready to support you on the mission. Good luck. _Kestrel_ out."

Wong firmed his grip on the flight sticks as he propelled the plane forward to Tokyo Bay.

* * *

**_Amidst the blue skies, a link from past to future. The sheltering wings of the protector..._**

* * *

_**#1**_

_**LOST BUTTERFLY**_

_0900hrs. May 1 2019_

_Tokyo_

_Mission Clear Condition:_

_Destroy all designated targets._

* * *

"Lot of meteor dust in the air again today," Observed Omega through the intercom, putting an abrupt end to Reaper's thinking session. "Hard to believe it's already been twenty years, huh? And the sky is still full of that junk..." He trailed with a hint of annoyance present in his voice, before a slight choke was heard from the mercenary. "Oh... sorry, I didn't mean to mention that incident or anything... sorry, buddy."

Wong tilted his mouth to make a small frown beneath his helmet. He looked round the rather cloudy-ish area to confirm his wingmate's statement. I was indeed rather 'foggy'. The 'fog' was caused by the ever unsettling meteor dusts that were sent into the air when the Ulysses's fragments impacted the Earth's surface. But after hearing Abib's sincere request for an apology, it made him shrunk a little deeper into his ejection seat. He wanted to say that it was okay, but his throat didn't let him do it.

They were flying on a small two-man formation, and they just passed the Tokyo's crater. The Ohgi Crater was created when one of the bigger fragment of the Ulysses rained upon Japanese soil. It decimated a quarter part of Tokyo. Seventy thousand people died. The meteor dust killed about three thousand more the next week after the impact. The Chinese impact was even worse. The dusts didn't settle out, making the whole Xi An province inhabitable, and even putting Beijing to a state of emergency. About a million and three hundred thousand unfortunate Chinese men and women died.

So instead, Reaper just tapped his mic once.

"This is the JASDF309 squadron, requesting affiliation," A voice buzzed from their radio, and a friendly IFF tone pinged from their north.

"This is Omega from Arrows' Bone-Arrow Squadron, working under independent UN Command," Omega answered with a practiced tone. "We're here for on operational support."

"The Pirates, huh?" The monotone voice from the friendly Japanese flight turned a bit more relaxed. "HQ told us to expect you. Good luck out there."

Even though the Reaper could directly see his new acquaintance's face, he could tell that he was probably smiling. "Yeah, you too."

"Up-link established, Commander Goodfellow," A soft, unfamiliar, monotone feminine voice butted into the squadron's comms. "The mic's yours."

"Many thanks, Lieutenant Eve," Goodfellow's lack-of-emotion voice reached into the pilots' ears. "Goodfellow to all units, we will now commence mission operations. Engage any enemy craft you come across."

The Reaper tapped his mic one more time to roger the directive.

"Omega, affirmative," As soon as he said that, both of the pilots saw two unknown craft flying at low speed at their general altitude. "Bandits on our twelve, probably surveillance UAVs."

Goodfellow hummed in a straight tone, probably trying to confirm the situation from his AWACS craft. "We confirm. You're cleared to engage."

Reaper's heartbeat raced a bit when he heard that, his breathing pace quickened up as he banked to leave his formation with Omega.

Noticing this, he heard a light chuckle from his wing mate. "Keep yourself together, rookie. These drones aren't even armed!"

Wong ignored his wing's tease and engaged his HMD's targeting system. His IFF automatically confirmed that there's no tone back from the two UAVs. Two green boxes flickered to life to outline the recon crafts' heat source. Wong leveled his craft to get a better view of the horizon, and then noticed that he was closing in on both UAVs. Without missing a second, the automatic targeting system tracked on the nearest UAV within range of his Phantom's Sidewinders.

A small reticle in a form of a crosshair blinked near the UAV. the crosshair fell upon the unmanned aircraft, and the box turned red. A long tone sounded off, signaling a radar-based lock at the craft.

"Bone-Arrow Four, you've locked on," The same dull-sounding voice that's supposed to be Lieutenant Evelyn's announced with a calm tone.

Wong reflexively narrowed his eyes and gave a light pressure to his index finger, which was already resting above the trigger. The AIM-9 that was stored on one of his Phantom's many hardpoints ejected itself and the booster turned on at the missile's tail. The AIM-9 flew at a dangerous velocity towards the slow-moving UAV. The heat-seeking projectile immediately exploded on contact upon hitting the unmanned craft. The UAV exploded into a fiery ball of flame, spreading oil and shrapnel into the dust-polluted skies.

The Reaper didn't stop at that. He shifted his eyes to his right, and the reticle followed his pinpointed vision. The crosshair locked on yet another UAV. After achieving that lock, the Chinese mercenary launched another missile to give chase at the recon plane. His Sidewinder blew a big hole right at the main hull of the UAV. The craft went down to plummet towards the sea below.

"All enemy UAVs down," Goodfellow stated with his ever calm voice. "Be advised, we have new blips on the radar. All units, we have more bandits approaching. Use your long-range search to get their location. Switch to your wide-range battle map."

Wong deactivated the targeting HUD of his HMD, and changed the display to mount up the long-range visual scanner. He confirmed one lone recon UAV just flying slowly above the Tokyo city limits. As he was just about to move in for his next kill, Omega swoop pass by him, guns blazing. The near-deafening sound of his Typhoon's engine as well as the crackling sounds from his machine gun rang through Reaper's ears for a couple of seconds.

The next thing he knew, the UAV was already trailing smoke, also with a spark of fire coming from its tail.

"Enemy UAV confirmed down," The French UN personnel broadcasted Omega's splash to confirm his kill.

"Remember, you can't fire your missiles while you're reloading," Omega reminded his wing. "Classic rookie mistake right there, mate."

Wong then realized that his Phantom's autoloader was indeed still loading and priming the next set of AIM-9s into the empty hardpoints. He almost slapped his forehead at the mistake that he had made.

"Another enemy flight approaching," Goodfellow announced yet another few blips on their radar.

"Argh... more of them?!" Abib whined, his voice sounded tired already even though he had only shot down one UAV drone.

"Be careful. A few of bandits have anti-air ordnance on them," The Arrows' rep cautioned his mercenaries. "Lieutenant Evelyn?"

"Yes, sir. Second Lieutenant, Junior Ensign, I've marked these drones with a TGT display on your radar," Eve uploaded the information directly to the pilots' battle map and visual scanner. "I advise the both of you to take these crafts down before anything else."

The mercenaries from the Bone-Arrows flight regrouped with the JASDF squadron in mid-flight as they moved in to engage the targeted UAV drones. As they move in, one of the two drones launched its Sidewinder at the formation of fighters. The pilots banked hard to evade the incoming missiles, some even ejecting their flares to counter the incoming threat. The AIM-9 harmlessly flew pass the formation and exploded in mid air when it made contact with one of the many flares that were ejected.

"Whoa!" Exclaimed an SDF pilot after the near miss. "Is that a Quox?!"

Now put into a jousting charge, Wong's targeting HMD locked into that armed UAV. He let his missiles fly towards the drone. The unmanned craft did several maneuver to circle and out run the AIM-9s, but the lack of flares declared its death sentence. One of the two heatseeking missiles got a direct hit right at the drone's metal hull. Causing a black smoke to cover some of the pilots' peripheral vision. Much to their surprise, however, the drone survived the explosive ordeal and continued flying.

The drones... they were coated with an I-Field.

"These bogeys are a lot more agile than the last guys!" Omega tutted in irritation, with his Sidewinder failing to hit the other target.

"General purpose drones designed by the JASDF... it might just be a close resemblance," The SDF pilot said to no one in particular.

"We'll check on that later. Right now, you pilots just focus on the attack," Goodfellow dismissed quickly, ordering the pilots to get back into combat.

Biting his lip and narrowing his eyes, Reaper yanked his F-4E to get another shot at the drone. He got his fighter to level right behind the UAV, just within his machine gun's range. Pressing the trigger, the gun of the Phantom spun up for a few seconds before spouting the orange-hot bullets. The cartridges chewed through the soft armor of the mysterious-armed drone, with the hull's metal bits and pieces flying off from the bullets' impact point. Seeing that it had reached its limit, the drone exploded immediately in mid-air, propelling some shrapnel and hot oil into the air.

Reaper rolled his Phantom to do a barrel roll to get behind the last UAV that was also trying to get a lock on him. Both fighters danced around the air for a few moments, but the F-4E's upgraded engines catapulted the fighter fast enough to out turn the hostile unit. Without any hesitation after gaining his radar lock, the Reaper fired his Sidewinders at the drone. Thanks to the short distance between the two crafts and the rather straight line-of-flight, both of the missiles blasted the drone away to kingdom come.

"All UAVs confirmed destroyed. Good work," Goodfellow congratulated his rookie.

"Sir, I'm picking up more of these Quox UAVs from bearing: seven-six-zero," Eve informed, getting stern at the seemingly never-ending supply of incoming UAVs.

"More radar blips? What the hell?!" Omega groaned in frustration, also confirming the operator's statement via his own battle map.

The drones immediately open fire upon the coastline of the Tokyo bay, alerting more of the JASDF and even the JMSDF. DD-118 _Fuyuzuki_, an Akizuki-class destroyer immediately sailed over to the coast to defend the bay area. The ship's anti-air and CIWS rotary cannons launching a hailstorm of bullets to stop the UAVs' advance. While more of the JASDF's F-15Js were seen taking off from the nearby aircraft carrier to support the UN mercenaries.

"Hostile Drones approaching. All hands level one battle stations!" One of the UNNS ship that was also patrolling the coast of Tokyo was also caught in the crossfire. "Open CIWS fire!"

"Enemy UAVs are attacking urban areas. They're striking the coastline from Shinagawa to Kawasaki," The Commander of the Arrows' alarmed all of the combat personnel present in the AO.

"They're the same armed version we just ran into!" Notified Omega, opening fire with his Typhoon's machine gun to down one more drone, and it was quickly followed by the Reaper's sidewinder to finish more of the UAVs off.

Unfortunately for them, a missile from the drones impacted the Fuyuzuki's main hull, damaging her flak cannons.

"All units, eliminate them before there's any more damage!" Goodfellow commanded hastily.

Omega grunted as his Typhoon did a high-g turn to circle around. "Damage report!"

"There's an evacuation order out for the coastal areas, but if this keeps up, the evacuation zones might be in danger too."

"Hit on starboard site!"  
"_Ikuze, yaro domo! Hasshin-des!_"  
"Get him out of there!"  
"_Danmaku, nani wo yatteru?!_"  
"Ma'am! Listen to me, you're going to be just fine! The UN is here to assist."

The area had turned into a full-blown war zone with panic and massive distress spreading throughout the whole former capital city of Japan.

Wong maneuvered his plane to circle around a drone with his machine gun already spouting bullets to the hostile aircraft. The barrel of his weapon was glowing red and smoking hot due to the extensive firing sessions. The antique Vietnam-war era plane tilted its nose and trailed behind a UAV. Reaper's amber eyes caught a small flight of three drones lowering their altitudes to do a bombing run on the city center. Frantically, the mercenary kicked the throttle, propelling his Phantom's engines to its afterburning limits.

The Phantom launched its sidewinders towards one of three Quox-like drones. Both of the highly explosive ordnance did a short work of the UAV. The F-4E then continued on with its onslaught to the next unmanned drone by firing his own plane's guns. Metal shrapnel and oil were flew to the wide open cloudy skies, even managing to hit the Reaper's canopy and cracking in when one of the bigger shrapnel grazed against his cockpit.

With two of the three enemy UAV drones downed, he switched to his more advanced AIM-120 AMRAAMs. The Phantom's autoloader primed the missiles on and the reticle turned red as soon as his eyes captured the unimpressive hull design of the Quox. Not wasting any more second, he released the AMRAAM into the air.

"Bone-Arrow Four, Fox Three," Lieutenant Bourgogne confirmed the missiles' launch from the hardpoints.

The AIM-120s' outer hull collapsed upon impact, sending highly-explosive fragmentation shells to shred the Quox craft. The UAV drone's wings were gutted off from the main metal body. The disfigure drone crashed down to the sea below and exploded right before it hits the docks.

Reaper breathed a sigh of relief, he sunk to his ejection seat and his fingers relaxed slightly on the flight sticks.

"Confirming splash... that's three in a row, Bone-Arrow Four," Eve announced with a slight hint of amazement in her dull voice.

"All enemy UAVs confirmed down, and no further enemy presence in this airspace," Goodfellow quipped.

"This is JASDF309, thanks for the help, Pirates," The Japanese UN pilot banked away from the formation.

"Glad to be of service!" Omega chirped happily.

"I'm getting the latest damage reports now," Goodfellow informed through his AWACS craft radio. "Looks like they didn't reach the evacuation zone. Not too shabby, Reaper... not shabby at all."

"Ey, these things, the Quox craft thingies that you've mentioned... why would be they be striking Tokyo?" Questioned Abib with a voice full of suspicion and warning.

"I'll get the UNF to brief me on the UAVs later. All units, cleared for RTB."

"I'll also be announcing the kill count for both pilots..." Eve with her monotone voice spoke up. "Bone-Arrow three, you've achieved three kills."

"Heck yes!" Cheered Omega. "Not bad, huh, Reaper? Drinks are on me now!"

The French lieutenant paused for a moment before continuing her announcement, "...and Bone-Arrow Four... you've shot down six UAVs, three of which were done in less than ten seconds. You've made ace in your mission. Congratulations, Lieutenant."

"Yeah, Reaper, you did- wait," Abib cut himself short. His brain trying to process what he had heard. "...WHAT?!"

* * *

An Ace Combat Infinity's work of fiction

* * *

**Glossary, terms, Author's notes and such.**

Hey there, guys, I'm back, and proudly bringing you the first chapter of my Ace Combat Infinity's novelization! Now I'm just gonna keep my notes short since there's much to be explained.

- UNNS: The United Nations Naval Service. This is a fictional military branch within the UN Peacekeeping forces. It's a futuristic organization created David Feintuch in his novels, the Seafort series.

- _UNNS-Kestrel_ / CVN-30 / George Washington-class super aircraft carrier: This is also a fictional ship (well, duh). And yes, there's a reason on why the thing is so big. And that reason is simple. This is Ace Combat, and the impossible happens in Ace Combat. I mean, when was the last time you see a flight of black F-14A Tomcats shooting down a LASER SHOOTING SPACESHIP?! The George Washington-class's more like my own crazy idea for the Nimitz II-class carrier, which was soon going to be replaced by the Ford-class carriers. The nearly impossible size and length of the George Washington-class was merely just showing how far the distance of insanity I would take while creating this story. Don't worry, I've added some real life information as well in the story so it WOULD sound a bit believable, although it's still not by a long shot. The reason why I created the _Kestrel_, was to act as the Arrows' flagship. And the hull designation and the namesake itself was taken from AC 5's CVN-30 _OFS Kestrel_.

- Invincible Fleet: This one is obvious, isn't it?

- Reaper's ribbon insignia: This one is obvious too, isn't it?

- Reaper's inability to speak: THIS... is well... I have no explanation for this.

- I-Field: This is technology incorporated from the Mobile Suit Gundam series. The I-Field acts as a barrier to deflect beam weaponry. Have you ever wondered why planes in Ace Combat could take LOADS of hit, even as going to three or four hits at Ace difficulty? Well, I've found the most logical explanation: an invisible barrier or coating around the aircraft. Of course, this sounded a little bit too futuristic, but hey... it's still Ace Combat.

- Evelyn de Bourgogne: This character... she is created from a clusterfuck of ideas. But... hey, did you know that:  
- Evelyn's name or Eve was taken from EVE from the WALL-E movie?  
- Her appearance is based upon _Pixiv Id 2215797_'s design of EVE's humanization design, also from WALL-E? You can find his/her designs on Zerochan.  
- Her quiet-like personality as well as her surname was taken from Fran de Bourgogne, a French character from God Eater II?

I think there's still much more to be explained, but I think I should just cut this short just to mention the bigger things in this story. I've tried to make this story as... you know... '_realistic'_ as possible? But bear with me if something is out of the ordinary, alright? I'm not that good with real-life military things or what not. And I pretty much think that the battle sequences that I've wrote are short and awkward. So... yeah... :l

Still, I hope that you enjoyed the story, thanks for reading.

Traesto :)


End file.
